Kanien'keh:ka artist paints cultural details into pet portraits

Tekaronhiahkhwa Standup never thought her family could have pets because of her children's severe allergies but now Tilly, Georgia and Loki a Boston terrier and two ferretsare part of the family.

She asked Bruce Boots, an artist she's admired for some time, to immortalize the newest members of the family in a portrait.

Boots, who isfromAkwesasne, a Kanien'keh:ka (Mohawk) territory thatstraddles the provincial and international boundaries of Quebec, Ontario and New York state, began making pet portraits in 2020. They were originally inspired by an old photo of Bill Murray he saw in a magazine.

"He was in one of those British navy admiral-type things with the epaulettes and everything," Boots said.

"I was like, 'Oh that looks cool.' And then my sister's dog passed away and she asked me to paint her portrait."

Boots uses traditional elements of Haudenosaunee culture such as a family's clan, Iroquoian beadwork, quillwork, and ribbon shirts to personalize the pet portraits.

Kaniehtiio Horn, an actor from Kahnawake, a Kanien'keh:ka community south ofMontreal, commissioned a portrait of her catBoodz in 2020. Hornsaid that at 13, Boodz is on the heftier side and a "grumpy old guy" and Boots was able to capture those details in the portrait.

"He's so good. Like if you look closely to the portraits, they'reso incredibly detailed," said Horn.

"People do those portraits already and I just think the way that he does it with the specific Indigenous twist and specificallyHaudenosaunee,I thought, was just genius."

Boots has painted about 11 pet portraits so far andcurrently has a wait list for commissions.Each portrait takes Boots 60 to 70 hours for just one pet longer if the portrait featuresmultiple pets.

"It's a lot of back and forth with the client," said Boots.

He also paints people and other aspects of Haudenosaunee culture.

Akwiratkha Martin said the inspiration for his dogAhonhtn:ton'sportraitwas an "old timey painting of our warrior beauties."

Boots includedelements of the pet's personality in the portrait. Ahonhtn:ton was painted with a rifle guardingMartin's chickens.

"I like to put like just a little bit of light in their eyes just to give that little bit of emotion because dogs, you look at them and they have such emotional faces,"said Boots.

For Boots,getting to see a client's reaction is one of the best parts of the job,second onlyto his love for painting. Boots said when he delivered Standup's painting to her, "she just beamed."

Standupis also an artist and said she appreciates the level of work that goes into Boot's paintings. She noticed the finer details like the shading, the lighting and Tilly's beaded yoke.

"I really like the traditional clothing aspect of it," Standup said.

"They're like time pieces."